Invalid&#39;s supporter.



E. I. BOYCE.

INVALIDS SUPPORTEE. Arrmouiox IILED PEB.19, 190a.

Patented Mar. 9,

mars PE c UNITED STATS FATE INVALIDS' SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed February 19, 1908. Serial No. 416,749.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIZABETH I. Boron, a citizen of the United States,residing in New York, in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ininvalids Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an im roved supporter for invalids by whichthe ffody can be supported in upright position. Very weak patients whenraised into an upright or partially upright position are liable to slidedownward toward the foot-end of the bed.

The object of this invention is to prevent the sliding down of the bodyand to support the same in upright position whenever required; and forthis purpose the invention consists of an invalids supporter whichcomprises a foot-rest that is connected by main and auxiliary strapswith the head-piece of the bed-stead, said foot-rest being composed of apadded transverse bar and loops on the same for the feet, for preventingthe downward sliding of the body.

The invention consists further of the arrangement of loopedshoulder-straps which are attached to the head-piece of the bed andconnected with the main-straps of the footrest and retained on the bodyby auxiliary front and rear-straps extending transversely between theshoulder-straps, as will be fully described hereinafter and finallypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view ofa bed shown with my improved invalids supporter in position thereon,Fig. 2 is a plan-view of my improved invalids supporter showing thedifferent main-straps, shoulder-loops and auxiliary straps as detachedfrom the bed stead, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sec tion throughthe foot-rest on line 3, 3, Fig. 2, drawn on a larger scale.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts.

My improved supporter for invalids is used in connection with a bed-resta of the well known constrution. The lower part of the bed-rest a isprovided with an extension a of stout textile fabric. Many invalids areunable to raise themselves in upright position without the assistance ofa nurse and are so weak that they cannot hold themselves in uprightposition for taking their meals or for other purposes.

The improved supporter is intended to prevent the body when in raisedposition from sliding down toward the footend of the bed and to supportthe body in raised position. For this purpose the supporter consists oftwo main-parts, a foot-rest f and two padded shoulder-straps g. Thefoot-rest f extends transversely across the foot-end of the bed and isconnected by longitudinal main-straps f with the headpiece of thebedstead to which they are attached by a transverse strap f connected bybuckles f with the main-straps so as to give a firm hold for thefoot-rest f. The foot-rest f is made of wood or other rigid materialcovered and padded in a suitable manner and having two loops f for theinsertion of the feet, so that they are held in position against thefootrest. The downward sliding of the body of the invalid, after hisfeet are placed in position in the loops of the foot-rest, is preventedby the hold which the foot-rest gives to the feet. The main-straps areattached to the frame of the foot-piece of the bed-stead bybuckle-straps f said straps preventing the foot'rest from being drawnupward by the feet of the patient;while transverse straps f 8 connectedwith the foot-piece of the bedstead prevent the foot-rest from shiftingin lateral direction. Ankle-straps f are ,connected by short straps f 7with the foot-restf near each loop and serve to hold the feet in theloops and to prevent the detaching of the feet from the loops.

For supporting the upper part of the body in raised position, theloop-shaped shoulderstraps g are placed around the shoulders of the bodyof the patient, their rear-ends being attached by means of buckle-strapsg to the head-piece of the bedstead above the bedrest, as shown inFig. 1. The front-ends of the shoulder-straps g are connected by twopairs of buckle-straps 1 and 2 with the longitudinal main-straps f andby short straps 8 and 4 with the base-frame of the bedrest a, whiletransverse front and rear-straps 5 and 6 extending between theshoulder-straps serve for holding the shoulder-straps, after the armsare passed through the same, in position on the upper part of the body,so that thereby the body of the invalid is supported in raised position.Very weak patients when raised to an upright or partly upright position,have a tendency to drop their shoulders to one side or the other, thusrendering their position not only uncomfortable but often llidistressing; The shoulder-straps prevent this dropping of the shoulders,and hold the patient in the position in which he is placed Withoutinconvenience and discomfort. When the patient is strong enough to holdhis shoulders in the proper position, that is to say, without droppingthem to one side or the other, then the shoulder-straps need not be usedat all and may be detached until required for use.

The improved supporter is especially useful in cases of abdominalsurgical operations when the patient is required to occupy asemi-recumbent position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. The combination, with a bedstead, of shoulder-straps suspended fromthe upper part of the head-piece of the bedstead and iaving loopsthrough which the patients arms are passed to hold the patient insemirecuinbent position, a front-strap to connect the loops across thebreast of the patient, and a rear-strap to connect the loops at theback.

2. The combination, with a bedstead and an inclined bed-rest thereon, ofa foot-rest connected with the foot-piece of the bedstead, longitudinalstraps connecting said foot-rest with the bed-rest and with thehead-piece of the bedstead, and shoulderstraps connected with the upperpart of the head-piece and with the longitudinal straps.

3. The combination, with a bedstead and an inclined bed-rest adjacentthe head-piece thereof, of a foot-rest connected with the foot-piece ofthe bedstead, longitudinal straps connecting the ends of thefoot-restwith the head-piece, shoulder-straps connected with the head-piece andhaving shoulder-holding loops in front of the bed-rest,

stead, shoulder-straps suspended from the,

top of the head-piece and having loops through which the patients armsare passed, and means for connecting the lower parts of said loops withsaid longitudinal straps.

5. A device for supporting the bodies of invalids, which comprises atransverse footrest, having loops for the feet, means for connecting thefoot-rest with the head-piece of the bed-stead, looped shoulder-strapsfor supporting the shoulders of the invalid, cross-straps for holdingsaid shoulder-straps to the body of the invalid, and straps forattaching the shoulder-straps to the headpiece of the bed-stead.

6. An invalids supporter, consisting of a transverse foot-rest providedwith loops for the feet, main-straps connecting the footrest with thehead-piece of the bed-stead, looped and padded shoulder-straps providedwith means for connecting them with the head-piece of thebedstead-auxiliary straps for connecting the front-ends of theshoulder-straps with the main-straps, and frontand rear-straps extendingtransversely between the shoulder-straps for holding them on the body.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, Ihave signedmy name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAUL GoEPEL, HENRY J. SU RBIER.

